Distributor, and evaporator and refrigerating machine with the same

ABSTRACT

Provided are a distributor having a distribution tube having an inner surface formed as a curved surface, a plurality of distribution holes which are formed in a lower semicircular region of the distribution tube with respect to a horizontal line of the distribution tube and are arranged to be symmetrical about a vertical line of the distribution tube and a connection hole provided in the distribution tube so that the distribution tube is connected to a connection tube, an evaporator and a refrigerating machine with the distributor. A perforated plate may be fixed to an inside of the distribution tube so as to block a flow path of a cooling medium.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2010-0023686, filed on Mar. 17, 2010, and all the benefits accruing therefrom under 35 U.S.C. §119, the contents of which in its entirety are herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

This disclosure relates to a distributor, and an evaporator and a refrigerating machine with the distributor, and more particularly, to a distributor which is improved to cause a cooling medium to form a stable flow and a steady circulation when flowing from a condenser into an evaporator, and an evaporator and a refrigerating machine with the distributor.

2. Description of the Related Art

In general, a vapor-compression refrigerating machine is composed of a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator. To roughly describe a refrigeration cycle of such a vapor-compression refrigerating machine, a cooling medium in a gas state is compressed to a relatively high pressure by the compressor, is supplied to the condenser, releases heat, and then is condensed to a liquid state.

The condensed cooling medium in the liquid state passes through an expansion value (typically an expansion valve, a capillary tube, an orifice, an expansion turbine, or the like) is subjected to a throttling operation and becomes a relatively low-pressure state, and is then distributed and supplied to the evaporator. Here, a distributor is provided in the evaporator, so that the cooling medium flowing into the evaporator is distributed and supplied inside the evaporator.

Then, the cooling medium passing through the evaporator absorbs heat in the evaporator and is converted to the gas state, and is flown into the compressor again so as to be circulated. A series of those operations are performed repeatedly.

Particularly, the cooling medium in the liquid state condensed by the condenser is generally depressurized through the throttling operation of the expansion valve, and thus forms a two-phase fluid state including a saturated liquid and a saturated vapor. The two-phase fluids of the cooling medium are mixed with each other and supplied to the evaporator in an unstable state.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a general distributor provided in an evaporator 10 of a refrigerating machine employing a vapor-compression refrigeration cycle. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A of FIG. 1.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, in a case where the two-phase fluid cooling medium is supplied to the inside of the evaporator 10, the cooling medium is flown through a connection hole 16 of a distribution tube 14 of a distributor 12, which is provided close to the bottom of the inside of the evaporator 10. Simultaneously, the cooling medium flows toward the bottom through a plurality of distribution holes 18 to be distributed and supplied.

In the two-phase fluid cooling medium, the cooling medium in the gas state has much larger specific volume than the cooling medium in the liquid state, and a flow of the cooling medium in the liquid state is interfered with by the cooling medium in the gas state. Particularly, since the distribution tube 14 has a rectangular and flat shape, resistance to the flow of the cooling medium along the flowing direction is higher as compared to a curved structure. Therefore, the flow of the cooling medium is in unstable state, and the circulation is significantly amplified.

In addition, since the center of the distribution hole 18 faces the bottom of the evaporator directly below in the vertical direction, in a case where the cooling medium hits against the bottom of the evaporator, an influence of the collision becomes significant, and a liquid surface of the cooling medium of the evaporator fluctuates excessively. During the suction of the cooling medium liquid and the bubbling liquid through a suction pipe 20, liquid suction into the compressor may result in degradation of the compressor performance. Moreover, as bubbles are produced in the liquid surface of the cooling medium, heat transfer efficiency and heat exchange performance of the evaporator are further degraded.

As a result, in the existing distributor, due to the structural problems as described above, heat transfer efficiency and heat exchange performance of the evaporator are degraded, and the performance of the compressor is degraded due to excessive generation of bubbles and the liquid suction phenomenon. Therefore, it is difficult to enhance the efficiency and performance of the refrigerating machine. Reference numeral 22 in the figure not described above denotes a heat exchange pipe group.

SUMMARY

This disclosure is directed to providing an evaporator and a refrigerating machine with the distributor, and more particularly, a distributor capable of forming a stable flow and a steady circulation while a cooling medium flows from a condenser into an evaporator by applying a distributor which is improved to have a structure in which a stable flow and a steady circulation are formed and spread uniformly, and an evaporator and a refrigerating machine with the distributor.

In one aspect, there is provided a distributor including: a distribution tube having an inner surface formed as a curved surface; a plurality of distribution holes which are formed in a lower semicircular region of the distribution tube with respect to a horizontal line X of the distribution tube and are arranged to be symmetrical about a vertical line Y of the distribution tube; and a connection hole provided in the distribution tube so that the distribution tube is connected to a connection tube.

A perforated plate may be fixed to an inside of the distribution tube so as to block a flow path of a cooling medium.

In another aspect, there is provided an evaporator having a distributor, the distributor including: a distribution tube having an inner surface formed as a curved surface; a plurality of distribution holes which are formed in a lower semicircular region of the distribution tube with respect to a horizontal line X of the distribution tube and are arranged to be symmetrical about a vertical line Y of the distribution tube; and a connection hole provided in the distribution tube so that the distribution tube is connected to a connection tube.

The evaporator may further include a perforated plate member which is disposed above a position at which the distribution tube is disposed, so as to be fixed to the evaporator.

In another aspect, there is provided a vapor-compression refrigerating machine including the evaporator.

In accordance with the present disclosure, the cooling medium forms a stable flow and a steady circulation when flowing into the evaporator from the condenser and is supplied to the evaporator in a uniformly spread state. Thus, vibration of a liquid surface of the cooling medium in the evaporator is suppressed, and degradation of performance of the compressor due to liquid suction may be prevented.

Moreover, bubble generation that occurs in the liquid surface of the cooling medium is suppressed, so that heat transfer efficiency and the heat exchange performance of the evaporator are increased, thereby enhancing the performance and efficiency of the refrigerating machine.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the disclosed exemplary embodiments will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a general distributor provided in an evaporator of a refrigerating machine employing a vapor-compression refrigeration cycle;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a distributor provided in an evaporator of a refrigerating machine employing a vapor-compression refrigeration cycle according to an embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating a distribution tube of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments are shown. This disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth therein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of this disclosure to those skilled in the art. In the description, details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the presented embodiments.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of this disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, the use of the terms a, an, etc. does not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denotes the presence of at least one of the referenced item. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising”, or “includes” and/or “including” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure, and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

In the drawings, like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements. The shape, size and regions, and the like, of the drawing may be exaggerated for clarity.

Hereinafter, a distributor, and an evaporator and a refrigerating machine with the distributor according to exemplary embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a distributor provided in an evaporator of a refrigerating machine employing a vapor-compression refrigeration cycle according to an embodiment. FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating a distribution tube of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B of FIG. 3. In FIGS. 3 to 5, like elements which are the same as those in FIGS. 1 and 2 are given like reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 5, a distributor 30 according to an embodiment includes a circular distribution tube 32, and a perforated plate member 34 may be disposed above the distribution tube 32.

The distribution tube 32 is provided with distribution holes 36. The distribution holes 36 are provided in a lower semicircular region with respect to a horizontal line X of the distribution tube and are arranged on both sides to be symmetrical about a vertical line Y of the distribution tube 32. In addition, the distribution tube 32 is provided with a connection hole 40 to be connected to a connection tube 38.

A plurality of the distribution holes 36 are formed in the lower semicircular region with respect to the horizontal line X of the circular distribution tube 32. Here, with respect to a center point O where the horizontal line X and the vertical line Y intersect, the distribution holes 36 may be arranged with an angle θ of 1° to 60° from the horizontal line X. More specifically, the distribution holes 36 may be arranged with an angle θ of 30° to 60° from the horizontal line X.

When the distribution holes 36 are formed as described above, the central direction of the distribution holes 36 is obliquely inclined with respect to the vertical line Y.

In a case where the distributor 30 is provided inside the evaporator 10, the circular distributor 32 is provided horizontally and close to the bottom of the evaporator 10, and the distribution holes 36 are arranged to face the bottom surface.

In addition, in the vapor-compression refrigerating machine including a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator, so as to allow the cooling medium condensed by the condenser to flow into the distribution tube 32 through the expansion valve, the connection tube 38 connected to the condenser side is connected to the connection hole 40 of the distribution tube 32.

In addition, inside the distribution tube 32, a perforated plate 42 is disposed and fixed as a partition structure for blocking the distribution tube 32.

Above the distribution tube 32, the perforated plate member 34 is further disposed and fixed. An arrangement structure in which one or more of the perforated plate members 34 are stacked and arranged may be employed depending on a circulation state of the cooling medium.

Therefore, two-phase fluid cooling medium condensed by the condenser is flown into the circular distribution tube 32 through the expansion valve. Here, since an inner surface of the distribution tube 32 is a curved surface which is formed as a circle, resistance to the flow of the cooling medium is minimized, and a natural flow is induced.

Particularly, the perforated plate 42 included in the distribution tube 32 blocks circulating force of the cooling medium flowing through the distribution tube 32 to suppress and smoothen the circulation, so that the natural flow of the cooling medium can be maintained.

When the natural flow of the cooling medium is maintained, a proper flow of the cooling medium is achieved, and of course, the circulation of the cooling medium becomes stable and steady.

The cooling medium flowing in the above-mentioned state is flown toward the bottom surface of the evaporator 10 through the distribution holes 36 and then supplied. According to this embodiment, unlike the existing structure in which the cooling medium is supplied directly below in the vertical direction, the cooling medium is flown and supplied in the downwardly inclined direction through the distribution holes 36 arranged with angles θ. Therefore, when the cooling medium hits against the bottom surface of the evaporator 10, the flow and spread of the cooling medium becomes smooth, and the collision force is reduced.

The cooing medium that has passed through the distribution holes 36 passes through the perforated plate member 34. In this process, the perforated plate member 34 functions as a resistance against the circulation of the cooling medium and thus suppresses the circulation. Therefore, the circulation of the cooling medium is further suppressed, and due to the flat shape of the perforated plate member 34, the cooling medium is spread uniformly.

Therefore, the cooling medium liquid forms a stable and steady circulation due to the circular distribution tube 32 and the perforated plate member 34, so that vibration of the liquid surface of the cooling medium in the evaporator 10 is suppressed, and liquid suction through a suction pipe 20 is prevented.

Accordingly, degradation of the performance of the compressor due to the liquid suction to the compressor is prevented, and bubble generation on the liquid surface of the cooling medium is suppressed, thereby enhancing heat transfer efficiency and heat exchange performance of the evaporator.

When the distributor 30 according to this embodiment is applied to the evaporator 10, as described above, prevention of degradation of the heat transfer efficiency and heat exchange performance of the evaporator 10, suppression of excessive generation of bubbles, prevention of degradation of the performance of the compressor due to the liquid suction may be achieved. As a result, the total efficiency and performance of the refrigerating machine may be enhanced.

A cooling medium flux V2 of the cooling medium flowing out through the distribution hole 36 may be calculated from a cooling medium flux V1 of the cooling medium flowing through an inlet of the circular distribution tube 32, i.e., the connection hole 40, a cross-sectional area Ad of the circular destruction tube, and an area Ah of the distribution hole, according to the following equation.

${V\; 2} = {V\; 1 \times \frac{Ad}{Ah}}$

According to the equation, if the value of the cooling medium flux V2 that forms a stable flow and a steady circulation is known, the values of the cooling medium flux V1 of the cooling medium flowing into the distribution tube 32, the cross-sectional area Ad of the distribution tube 32, or the area Ah of the distribution hole 35 can be obtained.

Therefore, using the optimized values, optimal design of the distribution tube 32 can be made, and the distribution tube 32 capable of forming a stable and steady circulation can be designed. Therefore, although the distribution tube 32 is illustrated to have a circular shape in the accompanying drawings, it is apparent that the distribution tube 32 can be modified with various shapes or structures other than the circular shape.

Reference numeral 22 denotes a heat exchange pipe group 22 typically provided in the evaporator 10, and generally a tube sheet (not shown) for fixing the heat exchange pipe group 22 is fixed and disposed in the evaporator 10 as a partition. The distribution tube 32 and the perforated plate member 34 are supported by and fixed to the tube sheet. The supporting and fixing manner of the distribution tube 32 and the perforated plate member 34 is the same as a method of fixing the heat exchange pipe group to the tube sheet.

Furthermore, the distribution tube 32 and the perforated plate member 34 need not be necessarily to the tube sheet. The distribution tube 32 and the perforated plate member 34 may be connected to the inner surface of the evaporator 10 to be supported and fixed thereto.

While the exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

In addition, many modifications can be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of this disclosure without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that this disclosure not be limited to the particular exemplary embodiments disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this disclosure, but that this disclosure will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims. 

1. A distributor comprising: a distribution tube having an inner surface formed as a curved surface; a plurality of distribution holes which are formed in a lower semicircular region of the distribution tube with respect to a horizontal line of the distribution tube and are arranged to be symmetrical about a vertical line of the distribution tube; and a connection hole provided in the distribution tube so that the distribution tube is connected to a connection tube.
 2. The distributor according to claim 1, wherein a perforated plate is fixed to an inside of the distribution tube so as to block a flow path of a cooling medium.
 3. The distributor according to claim 2, wherein the distribution holes are arranged with an angle of 1° to 60° from the horizontal line with respect to a center point where the horizontal line and the vertical line intersect.
 4. An evaporator comprising a distributor, wherein the distributor includes: a distribution tube having an inner surface formed as a curved surface; a plurality of distribution holes which are formed in a lower semicircular region of the distribution tube with respect to a horizontal line of the distribution tube and are arranged to be symmetrical about a vertical line of the distribution tube; and a connection hole provided in the distribution tube so that the distribution tube is connected to a connection tube.
 5. The evaporator according to claim 4, wherein a perforated plate is fixed to an inside of the distribution tube so as to block a flow path of a cooling medium.
 6. The evaporator according to claim 5, wherein the distribution holes are arranged with an angle of 1° to 60° from the horizontal line with respect to a center point where the horizontal line and the vertical line intersect.
 7. The evaporator according to claim 6, further comprising a perforated plate member which is disposed above a position at which the distribution tube is disposed, so as to be fixed to the evaporator.
 8. A vapor-compression refrigerating machine including the evaporator according to claim
 4. 9. A vapor-compression refrigerating machine including the evaporator according to claim
 5. 10. A vapor-compression refrigerating machine including the evaporator according to claim
 6. 11. A vapor-compression refrigerating machine including the evaporator according to claim
 7. 